diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 48a3522a0..6b39a0157 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ gem 'puma', '~> 8.0'
 gem 'rack_content_type_default', '~> 1.1'
 gem 'rack-cors'
 gem 'rails', '~> 8.1.3'
-gem 'rails_semantic_logger', '~> 4.20'
+gem 'rails_semantic_logger', '~> 5.0'
 gem 'ruby-progressbar', '~> 1.13', require: false
 gem 'ruby-vips'
 gem 'rubyzip'
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index eaa00c5fb..b7ad6870d 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ GEM
       actionview (>= 7.0.0)
       activesupport (>= 7.0.0)
     jmespath (1.6.2)
-    json (2.20.0)
+    json (2.21.1)
     jwt (2.10.3)
       base64
     kaminari (1.2.2)
@@ -394,10 +394,10 @@ GEM
     rails-html-sanitizer (1.7.1)
       loofah (~> 2.25, >= 2.25.2)
       nokogiri (>= 1.15.7, != 1.16.7, != 1.16.6, != 1.16.5, != 1.16.4, != 1.16.3, != 1.16.2, != 1.16.1, != 1.16.0.rc1, != 1.16.0)
-    rails_semantic_logger (4.20.0)
+    rails_semantic_logger (5.0.0)
       rack
-      railties (>= 5.1)
-      semantic_logger (~> 4.16)
+      railties (>= 7.2)
+      semantic_logger (>= 5.0)
     railties (8.1.3)
       actionpack (= 8.1.3)
       activesupport (= 8.1.3)
@@ -507,7 +507,7 @@ GEM
       childprocess (>= 0.5, < 5.0)
       rexml (~> 3.2, >= 3.2.5)
       rubyzip (>= 1.2.2)
-    semantic_logger (4.18.0)
+    semantic_logger (5.0.0)
       concurrent-ruby (~> 1.0)
     sentry-rails (6.6.2)
       railties (>= 5.2.0)
@@ -613,7 +613,7 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   rack-cors
   rack_content_type_default (~> 1.1)
   rails (~> 8.1.3)
-  rails_semantic_logger (~> 4.20)
+  rails_semantic_logger (~> 5.0)
   rspec
   rspec-rails
   rspec_junit_formatter
diff --git a/config/application.rb b/config/application.rb
index 0475c0df9..6de547b8b 100644
--- a/config/application.rb
+++ b/config/application.rb
@@ -74,7 +74,15 @@ class Application < Rails::Application
     config.x.cloudflare_turnstile.secret_key = ENV.fetch('CLOUDFLARE_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY', nil)
     config.x.cloudflare_turnstile.enabled = ENV['CLOUDFLARE_TURNSTILE_SECRET_KEY'].present?
 
-    config.rails_semantic_logger.format = :json
-    config.semantic_logger.application = 'editor-api'
+    config.rails_semantic_logger.appenders do |appenders|
+      if ENV['RAILS_LOG_TO_STDOUT'].present?
+        # Log to STDOUT on Heroku in JSON format, where this variable is set automatically.
+        appenders.add(io: $stdout, formatter: :json, application: "editor-api@#{ENV['HEROKU_SLUG_COMMIT'] || 'unknown'}")
+      else
+        appenders.add(file_name: "log/#{Rails.env}.log", formatter: :json)
+        appenders.add_server(formatter: :color)  # $stdout while serving
+        appenders.add_console(formatter: :color) # $stderr inside `rails console`
+      end
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/config/environments/production.rb b/config/environments/production.rb
index d1e1d4c7a..4f668a926 100644
--- a/config/environments/production.rb
+++ b/config/environments/production.rb
@@ -45,14 +45,6 @@
   # Force all access to the app over SSL, use Strict-Transport-Security, and use secure cookies.
   # config.force_ssl = true
 
-  # Log to STDOUT on Heroku in JSON format, where this variable is set automatically.
-  if ENV['RAILS_LOG_TO_STDOUT'].present?
-    $stdout.sync = true
-    config.rails_semantic_logger.add_file_appender = false
-    config.semantic_logger.add_appender(io: $stdout, formatter: :json)
-    config.semantic_logger.application = "editor-api@#{ENV['HEROKU_SLUG_COMMIT'] || 'unknown'}"
-  end
-
   # Prepend all log lines with the following tags.
   config.log_tags = [:request_id]
 
diff --git a/config/puma.rb b/config/puma.rb
index f5f2c28e9..71f0f48ff 100644
--- a/config/puma.rb
+++ b/config/puma.rb
@@ -38,11 +38,6 @@
 
   workers worker_count
 
-  before_worker_boot do
-    # Re-open appenders after forking the process
-    SemanticLogger.reopen
-  end
-
   # Use the `preload_app!` method when specifying a `workers` number.
   # This directive tells Puma to first boot the application and load code
   # before forking the application. This takes advantage of Copy On Write